16 posted on 5/13/2013 9:07:41 AM by pax_et_bonum: “I am a sixth-generation Texan (at least) of over fifty years. I was ridiculed for my faith in junior high school by Protestant students because I am Catholic.”

Speaking as a rather fiery conservative evangelical Protestant, let me say what was done to you was wrong. It should not have happened.

Disagreeing with your Roman Catholic faith and arguing against what you believe is one thing. I expect that you, as a Roman Catholic, will affirm Trent and Vatican I and therefore will argue against what I believe. That's fine.

Deal with people's arguments. Don't ridicule them as people. If the goal is to win people over, ridiculing them is both wrong and worthless because it does nothing to convince them they're wrong.

That's especially important when the person with whom we're debating is a traditional Roman Catholic or an Orthodox Jew. In general, conservative evangelicals, Roman Catholics and Jews are going to agree on cultural issues and most political issues even though we disagree on some very important religious issues. We're going to worship in different places, but why make enemies for no good reason?

Conservatives need to stop the circular firing squads. Put bluntly, we need every vote if we're going to stop the liberal agenda of people who hate God and any sort of Bible-based faith.